Process for the treatment of iron or steel.



' 1,241,112. No Ill-arcing.

ennnur HAYES, or-nnwYoR-K, 1v. Y. ,Assmncu 'ro o izs'no'r DEVELOPMENTco'zaronA- TION, a ,oonroRArion-or NEW YORK. a

Tacit wkomz't-mcy concern Belt known that I. ALBERT Harris, a c tis'cnof the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York,State of, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProcesses for the Treatment of Iron or Steel, of which the iollowing'isa description.

My invcntion'relatcs to a process for the treatment of iron or steel forthe purpose of 1t is'well known that in the treatment of steel byheating and quenching in liquid the result produced is somewhatdependent on the character of the liquid 'lniwhich the treated steel isq uenched -ior instancc,-if

the heated steel is quenched in oil, the result is different from thatproduced by quenching it in water; at the sarnc heat. It has also beenfound that if certain chemicals are added to the, alter in which theheated steel is ueuc hcd adifierent result is prov duced from thatproduced by quenching in Water not having such chemicals insolutionn'Various chemical solutions have been. prepared and yarious vresults asregards improvcment of thcsteel, particularly asregards toughnessortensile strength have been secured It is the object of my pres entinvention to, produce a process for the ness or tensile strength.

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, With these objects in view, my invention consists inLthe roccSs andproduct hereinafter describedond claimed A characteristic element ofthBSOllllllOIl mu, of in carrying outthe process of ii tihvention isfiuorin, but for the is its 1 use this in a solution containinn; 2 sosaLammoniac; chlorid of sodium tchmmonsalt) and chlorin, and generatechloric acid.

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anagram term-512mm. m 't a ep 5, 17.

aprlcationlfiisd M rch 31, 1916'. tenant. 3,046.

such as fluor spar, by the addition of hydro- In preparing the solutionfor the troutnient of steel or iron, I dissolve'threc ounces ofsal-amrnoniac and three ounces of common salt in a gallon of waterandadd to this onetwentieth of an ounce of-fluorid, such aspowderedfiuor spar, and then add about two per cent; of 'mur'iatic(hydrochloric) acid and cool the solution. Subsequently, I heat thesolution to about 150' degrees Flt-lb renhcit and add so much chlorin inthe form of gas or liquefiedas the solution will take up. The solutionis then ready for use.

In carrying out my process, I heat the steel or iron to be treated to alow red heat,

say from 500 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, be

careful to see that it is heated through,-

out to the same temperature, and I then quench it in the solution, Theresult of ,the flucrin in this solution ironl alluorid,

quenching it in the solutionis to rearrange the molecules and toprobably also change their composition, throughout the mass of themetal, so that the metal. will present a fibrous appearance and can bebroken only with great'diificulty,-its tensilestrength being 'greatlyincreased. [By regulating the heat of the solution'between say 98degrees and'ZQO degrees Fahrenheit, Ijam able by the single quenching togive steel 21 hard or soft temper, so that "no reheating isnecestreatedmay, however, be": reheated for temporing Without destroyingthe fibrouscharsary for annealing or hardening. Steelso acter impartcdto itbyquenchingin the solotion,

The solution uscdas above described at fects the entire mass of thesteel or iron subjected to-its action, provided, of course, it isuniformly heated throughout its mass. If it is desired to have themetalmadetoughand fibrous only exteriorly leaving the interior crystalline,thisresult may be brought about by quenching it in the solutionbefore itis heated throughout its mass.

The fiuorin set free by the' action of the Y hydrochloric acid on thefiuorid used seems to have a permanent eifectupon the silica present inthe steel or iron, either to dissolve it or to change its character soas to l'eayc the steel or iron free from brittleness. It is' possiblealso that the fluorin may produce ts effect by its action on the sulfurpresent 111 the steel or iron and while it is clear that the fluorin isthe important element of the solution. it seems to be clear that itsaction is modified and facilitated by the presence of the chlorin.

It will, of course, be understood that the process is not dependent onthe precise proportion of the fiuorin or other chemicals used in thesolution; the essential feature bcmg subjecting the steel or iion whileheated to the action of the fluorin, v

.I do not herein claim the solution above described, that forming thesubject matter Of a separate application filed by me March 31, 1916,SerialNo. 88,017.

.AIiBERT HAYES.

common salt, a

